International Journal of Civil & Environmental Engineering IJCEE-IJENS Vol:12 No:05 31 127605-0808-IJCEE-IJENS © October 2012 IJENS I J E N S Abstract— The paper is dedicated to make a review of the basic concepts on process improvement and to show the benefits of applying these concepts in improvement projects of construction firms. A special focus is made on the use of the basic quality tools to improve the production process of ready mixed concrete (RMC). A local ready mix concrete producer at the region of Hail in Saudi Arabia has been taken as a case study, where the 28 days compressive strength of the plant has been monitored and analyzed using the histogram and Xbar-R control charts techniques. The analysis shows clearly that concrete producers can effectively improve their production processes, save money, materials and make their processes sustainable. Index Terms— Process Improvement, Quality Tools, Construction Industry, Ready Mixed Concrete, Saudi Arabia I. INTRODUCTION In the era of competitive markets and globalization, quality concepts and philosophies have emerged as strategic issues at all organizational levels and in all industries and services including the construction industry which is the major asset of national economies. International quality standards and excellence models such the ISO 9000 standards, the EFQM model, Deming Prize and the King Abdul-Aziz Quality Award model require organizations' quality systems to be built on processes, rather than requirements, departments or functions. Consequently, proper process identification and management are becoming more relevant and critical challenges for quality professionals, process engineers and business leaders. World/class organizations use total quality management (TQM) tools to identify, analyze and assess qualitative and quantitative data that are relevant to their This work was undertaken within the BinLaden Research Chair on Quality and Productivity Improvement in the Construction Industry sponsored by Saudi BinLaden Group. The RMC data analyzed here were provided by Tammami Mix Co. M. Aichouni is with the University of Hail, College of Engineering, Hail, Saudi Arabia. Phone:+966-65358200 (Ext:1376) e-mail: m.aichouni@uoh.edu.sa processes with the main objective towards the continuous improvement of the process and the delivery of high quality products and services. One of the simplest and most effective tools used by engineers in manufacturing and service processes for problem solving and quality improvement, are the basic quality tools known as the magnificent seven [23]. Japanese quality guru, engineering professor, Kaoru Ishikawa who is the inventor of the seven basic quality tools stated clearly that 95% of quality related problems in any organization can be resolved using these tools and hence many opportunities for improving processes can be generated; This important statement has been proven in the field by different organizations and researchers including the construction industry worldwide ([6] and [14]). The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been rated as the 13th most economically competitive country in the world, according to the International Finance Corporation (IFC)- World Bank annual "Doing Business" report issued for 2010. The report highlighted the rapid rate of economic growth among Middle Eastern countries, especially in the construction industry. According to a recent study conducted by the national research institution KACST [17], the Saudi construction industry counts for 8% of the national GDP. Economic data indicated that spending on construction of residential units were SR 82 billion (USD 22 billion) in 2007, and may further increase to SR 112 (USD29) billion by 2016. Spending on non/residential construction increased by 8% from SR 42 billion in 2006 to SR 46 billion in 2007, is expected to grow further to SR 73 billion in 2016. Infrastructure spending, which increased from SR 82.5 billion in 2006 to SR 90 billion in 2007, is expected to grow to SR 171 billion in 2016 backed by the government‟s privatization initiatives and the huge projects of the newly established economics cities such as King Abdullah economic city. Despite the evolution of the national economic structure, the unprecedented construction boom of recent years has led to the reemergence of some problems and challenges related to the quality of construction projects deliverables and products. According to the same study, the Saudi construction sector suffers from the lack of advanced know-how, use of energy- intense manufacturing processes, high construction costs, lack of commitment to quality, and disregard to improvement of On the Use of the Basic Quality Tools for the Improvement of the Construction Industry: A Case Study of a Ready Mixed Concrete Production Process Mohamed Aichouni, Member SQC